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Thursday, September 25, 2014

God's Timing and A New Grand Baby Boy

Have you ever stopped to think about little things like timing?

I was in a car accident about 10 years ago in downtown Tulsa. I was crossing an intersection at 3rd St and Detroit. Detroit is a one way street with three lanes going North. I was on 3rd Street going West and had a green light. There were two cars stopped at the light on Detroit. As I entered the intersection and proceeded through, a car came flying into the intersection from the open 3rd lane on Detroit, running the red light. The car hit my front drivers side tire and quarter panel and went through the intersection. The damage done totally destroyed my front end. The insurance company totaled my car. I estimate the driver was going between 35 and 45 miles per hour through the intersection at the time. If I would have entered that intersection literally a couple of seconds earlier, that car would have hit me square in the drivers side door and I have no doubt I would have been seriously injured or killed.

What if I would have walked just a little faster to my car that day? What if I would have left work just a few seconds earlier? I thanked God for his grace that day.

Fast forward to last Wednesday morning. The alarm went off at 4:30am. The plan was to get up and take my my wife Monica to the airport. She was flying to Massachusetts for a conference. When I got up, I noticed that I had some text messages. My daughter Bridgette had text message saying she was in labor at the hospital her water had broke. Message received at 12:01am. Second message was that baby was coming soon, and she was progressing fine. Message received at 1:33am.

You know how you are when you get up in the morning. I was first trying to read these texts without the light on in the bedroom. Secondly, I need bi-focal's, so I struggled to read the messages and had to re-read them to make sure I was seeing the time the messages were sent and then it hit me. HOLY COW, my daughter is having a baby right now!!! We were not expecting this to happen so soon. Her due date was Sept 26th. This was Sept 17th. So, I turned to Monica and told her that Bridgette is having her baby right now and she says "Well, looks like I'm not going to the airport, because we are going to Iowa to see Bridgette and our new grand baby." Monica was able to make arrangements with her other business partners to
handle the conference without her and I was able to do the same with things for me at the church.

So, what would have happened IF I had my phone turned off that morning? Or what if I didn't check my phone for messages and just placed it in my pocket like I normally do and we drove off to take Monica to the airport? Monica would have missed out on our trip to Iowa to see Bridgette and our new grand baby boy, Aidan James. That is a moment she would have never been able to get back. And we thanked God for his grace that day.

God's timing is always perfect. Ask Abraham how close he was to thrusting a knife into his son Issac. Genesis 22: 10-12 " Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He replied, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him.

Ask the Israelite's when they were fleeing Pharaoh's army headed toward the Red Sea when the Lord opened the see for them to pass and then closed it back up on top of Pharaoh's chasing army. Exodus 14:26 "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and horsemen."

Pay attention to the little things. Thank God for His grace and for His timing.

About Me

NBFamilies is the name of the Family Ministry at New Beginnings Church. We believe that God has called parents to serve as the primary disciple-makers and faith influencers in their children’s lives. NBFamilies partners with parents to grow vibrant followers of Christ who will change to world.